Mat boards with cut sight openings are commonly used for framing photographs, pictures and the like. Numerous forms of manual devices and machines are disclosed in the art, and are commercially available in both professional and also "DIY" (do-it-yourself) models, for cutting both the outside periphery of such mats (normally done with a "straight" cut, at a perpendicular angle) as well as the sight opening (normally done with a "bevel" cut, at an acute angle).
Exemplary apparatus is shown in the following U.S. patents: Williams U.S. Pat. No. 1,250,538, issued Dec. 18, 1917, Umholtz U.S. Pat. No. 2,924,010, issued Feb. 9, 1960, Meshulam et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,626, issued Dec. 27, 1977, Pierce U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,419, issued Apr. 21, 1981, Beder U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,366, issued Aug. 11, 1987, and McGinnis U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,156, issued Jan. 22, 1991; a system generally more sophisticated than the foregoing is disclosed by Kozyrski et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,112, issued Jan. 17, 1989. Davidson U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,739, issued May 23, 1989, provides an adjustable template device, for framing and cutting sheet material, in which resilient pins engage lines of detents so as to retard relative sliding movement of adjacent members.
A need exists for a support assembly suitable for use in association with such cutters, especially for effectively holding the sheet material workpiece against a supporting base, and for quickly, conveniently and precisely locating cutter guide means, such as an elevated track, at selected distances from a reference edge.